Music, Culture and Society: Julie Waters
7 March 2008
Proselytizing the Prague Manifesto in England: The Commissioning, Composition and Performance of Alan Bush’s ‘Nottingham’ Symphony
Julie Waters
British composer Alan Bush (1900-1995) composed the ‘Nottingham’ Symphony in 1949. It was the first major orchestral work he wrote after attending the Second International Congress of Composers and Music Critics in Prague in 1948 – a Congress at which the principles of socialist realism were confirmed and national musical traditions upheld as artistic models. Not only did the symphony mark the end of Bush’s flirtation with modernism, but it affirmed his commitment to English national style. This style, drawing on elements including contrapuntal forms, modal inflections, and associations with English history and geography, was a musical path Bush had begun travelling earlier in the 1940s. Given his Marxist and Communist Party connections, and the symphony’s pivotal position in his oeuvre, the work clearly invites exploration in terms of ideological influences. This article explores the symphony – and the circumstances surrounding its conception and performance - in the context of Bush’s view of music as social practice, and particularly in terms of his response to the Prague Manifesto and Soviet musical aesthetics. What was the significance of the symphony’s commissioning by a co-operative society? In what ways may the symphony be seen as Bush’s attempt to implement the Manifesto, and to rework the English pastoral tradition to accommodate his ideological aims? Drawing on a range of sources, including Bush’s published articles and unpublished correspondence, the article aims to shed light on the complex interrelationship between his musical theory and practice, and the social and cultural context in which the symphony was created.
Julie Waters is currently undertaking a PhD at Monash University on Alan Bush’s first three symphonies, with particular reference to the impact of his Marxist beliefs on their composition and early reception. She holds an honours degree in music from Monash, as well as degrees in law and arts (including a Masters degree) from Melbourne University.